Sorry but a 'calmers' thread...

Lady La La

Lady La La

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Ive looked back at old threads on here, and loads seem to be suggested... and Im still none the wiser, so Im asking again...

Which calmer to try? My little tb hasnt been the same since Starla died, she is constantly tense, not happy in her box, not happy in her field. She used to be fairly level headed and chilled but these days she seems a bundle of nerves always alert and on the look out for things, never happy and relaxed.

Ive had all the normal checks done, including the back lady who is back out at the start of next month for another session... I just want to help her relax.

So... what would you recommend I try? Ive had Global herbs recommended to me, has anyone else had any experience of this? :confused:
 
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I used to have one of my boys on the Global Herbs Calmer after trying everything to try and take that 'edge' off him, then my local tack shop suggested I tried dried Chamomile Flowers instead (far cheaper). I found he was fine on a day to day basis with his flower feed, and then for competition I used the Instant Supercalm a couple of hours before his class. This worked out a lot cheaper for me in comparison to giving him Global herbs each day. In the summer, I found I could cut out the flowers and just give him instant super calm for shows and exciting places, the sun does magical things to his brain!

My experience of calmers is very much trial and error....I really think it varies horse to horse! We've had one that calmed right down after being on Blue Chip Original, really levelled out his attitude and he was more focused on working, but did diddly squat to the above mentioned horse!

Hope your little ponio chills out eventually though, horrible seeing them up tight :)
 
Haven't tried Global Herbs but have tried Relax Me, which I know plenty of people have had success with, but did nothing for my TB. Then tried Pro Kalm, which did work but then I decided I would rather go to the source of the issue, rather than treat the symptoms and now use Equifeast's Cool Calm & Collected, and love the effect. Won't try and explain too deeply as think their website does a good job of explaining it, although it is a nightmare to navigate! But we have gone from mid 50s to 70s dressage scores and having issues getting over tiny jumps to starting at 80cm classes, it has done wonders for his confidence, rather than just dealing with the stress issues.

As ever what works for one won't necessarily work for others, but is does work for my underconfident TB.
 
I've found it to be trial and error - I tried a few different calmers, before finding one that works. With the magnesium calmers, I found them only to be effective if the horse is defecient in mg - with my current boy, I use a mg calmer at certain times of year, as he is sensitive to the fluctuating mg levels in our grass. The rest of the time, he is absolutely fine without anything.

With my old boy - I found Hilton Herbs to work the best, but it does contain valerian, which I believe isn't FEI legal. They do a VF free version - but not sure how effective it would be. The valerian calmer certainly worked on my old horse.

I know a lot of people say positive things about NAF Magic - especially as it now does pro/pre biotic version too - which can help some horses with a more sensitive digestion system and prone to ulcers.

I'm sure you have already - but I'd also have a good look at diet and other contributing factors - which may not be helping a tense horse. I knew of one horse, that was a nightmare because of carrot's being put in her feed (because of high sugar levels) - take them away and she was a different horse.
 
I haven't tried Global Herbs because my mare refuses to eat her dinner if there is any powder in it :) Have tried Naff Magic and the Blue Chip liquid and didn't notice any changes. Last year I started to feed Nupafeed and I've found it works brilliantly for her.
 
S-J said:
I've found it to be trial and error - I tried a few different calmers, before finding one that works. With the magnesium calmers, I found them only to be effective if the horse is defecient in mg - with my current boy, I use a mg calmer at certain times of year, as he is sensitive to the fluctuating mg levels in our grass. The rest of the time, he is absolutely fine without anything.

With my old boy - I found Hilton Herbs to work the best, but it does contain valerian, which I believe isn't FEI legal. They do a VF free version - but not sure how effective it would be. The valerian calmer certainly worked on my old horse.

I know a lot of people say positive things about NAF Magic - especially as it now does pro/pre biotic version too - which can help some horses with a more sensitive digestion system and prone to ulcers.

I'm sure you have already - but I'd also have a good look at diet and other contributing factors - which may not be helping a tense horse. I knew of one horse, that was a nightmare because of carrot's being put in her feed (because of high sugar levels) - take them away and she was a different horse.
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Sounds like it is very much trial and error, so I'll see how we get on!
I've looked at her diet, she stressed an awful lot of weight off when Starla died which she has pretty much put back on on now, but she will drop weight in an instant the little madam! At the moment she is fed on Hi fi, pasture mix and a small amount of Speedibeat. This seems to be a decent balance between keeping some weight on her, and not feeding her up to blow her brains! I'd like a little more weight on her if Im honest, but it wont be long till the spring grass arrives and she looks well enough so Im not too worried there.
Her behaviour under saddle is fine, is the stressyness in her day to day life I'd like to cut out... everything seems like such a drama for her at the moment :(

I'll give a calmer a go and take it from there, it cant hurt :o
 
I used Naff Magic when my TB came out of racing, worked for me. He has the attention span of a gnat though! He's not on magic anymore and is super, has been out of racing nearly a year now. From personal experience I find although the TB's may look settled it takes them longer, my boy is now rolling and lying down in his box which he never done before! Is your an exracer? They are used to standing around all day in boxes but never really chill out! Always on guard etc. but they get there eventually! My boy does get board easily though, he has lots of things to ocupy him in the box and I alternate toys etc, so he has something to focus on. Be patient.... yours will get there. nearly spring and they are always more settled in good weather.
 
Ive been using naf magic for the last 8 months for my 5yr old mare, who had a tendency so a 'scooby-doo' (leap into human arms) on everyone if she was spooked whilst being led or if a loud noise happened outside of her stable, not fun being shes over 16.3hh lol. It seems to be working for her, shes less skittish, shes relaxed and calm in her stable, it just seems to have taken the edge off.
Whatever you decide to use it seems that most of the time to take a while for it to get into their systems before you notice much change.
Hope you find something that works for your horse! Good luck!
 
i use topspec calmer on our little tbx .she is a worrier generally and can get her knickers in a twist . i rang the helpline who were very good and am sure it helps her although shes still sharp . i would also try a few and see how you get on also what do you think of other remedies .im not very knowledgable but dont they have homeopathic remedies for different emotions ie grief .might be worth thinking about.
 
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